The Taliban's main challenge comes on the financial and economic front and there Pakistan doesn't have the capacity to be of any meaningful help, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The government is pushing the public sector behemoth ONGC to involve private sector companies and service providers wherever possible to help raise oil and gas production, Petroleum Secretary Tarun Kapoor said Thursday. Kapoor's comments came days after the second-highest ranked official in his ministry asked Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) to give away a 60 per cent stake plus operating control in India's largest oil and gas producing fields of Mumbai High and Bassein to foreign companies. "ONGC has to explore more so that it can discover more oil and gas reserves and bring them quickly to production to raise domestic output. The government is very clear that ONGC has to do more," he told reporters.
Habib Bank along with state-run National Bank of Pakistan had applied to RBI, India's banking regulator, for starting operations in India, while SBI, PNB and Bank of India had sought appoval for going to Pakistan.
Sam's brother, Tom, has been drafted into England's squad for the World Cup. In addition, Surrey's left-arm seamer Reece Topley has been added as a travelling reserve. Topley will join the England party in due course
Counting of votes would be take place on March 3
Suryakumar Yadav gave an exhibition of his incredible hitting skills with a superb 76 as India cantered to a seven-wicket win against the West Indies in the third T20 International on Tuesday.
While Paneerselvam had a smaller 'Y+' cover of central paramilitary commandos, Stalin had a larger 'Z+' protection.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that One Rank-One Pension (OROP) in Armed forces is a policy decision and suffers from no constitutional infirmity.
The city police commissioner has promulgated prohibitory orders under Section 144 of Code of Criminal Procedure in the limits of Bengaluru city till the midnight of April 22.
At least 12 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) reached West Bengal on Saturday morning as the state prepares to go to elections, officials said.
Government looking at cushioning slowdown due to demonetisation with sops and higher outlay for micro, small and medium enterprises, agriculture, and affordable housing.
Earlier, in a major joint offensive, separate teams of nearly 600 personnel belonging to the District Reserve Guard (DRG), Special Task Force (STF) and Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) -- an elite unit of Central Reserve Police Force, launched an anti-Naxal operation from three sides towards Elmagunda after getting inputs about a huge gathering of ultras there on Saturday.
'If the dimensions of the strategic partnership worked out by India and the US seem like a grand alliance targeted at you-know-who, China had better realise that it has fathered it,' says B S Raghavan, a long time observer of China.
'I bow to the great freedom fighters born in Andhra Pradesh. We have not forgotten our freedom fighters, we will not forget and we will move forward by taking inspiration from them,' the prime minister said
The petroleum ministry has told ONGC to give away 60%stake plus operating control in India's largest oil and gas producing fields of Mumbai High and Bassein to foreign companies, according to an October 28 letter to the state-owned company. Amar Nath, additional secretary (exploration) in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, wrote a 3-page letter to ONGC chairman and managing director Subhash Kumar, saying productivity of the Mumbai High and Bassein & Satellite (B&S) offshore assets under state-owned firm was low and international partners should be invited and given 60 per cent participating interest (PI) and operatorship. This is the second time since April that Nath, who is part of the ONGC management as the longest-serving government nominee director on its board and often considered a potential candidate to replace Kumar next year, has written an official letter, painting a poor picture of the company's performance.
He said 162 terrorists and Maoists were killed across the country in 2021-22.
Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday put state-owned ONGC and OIL on notice saying oil and gas reserves they hold need to be monetised through joint ventures with domain experts or the government will take them away and auction them. Speaking at BNEF Summit, he said state-owned firms cannot indefinitely sit on resources when the nation is a net importer of oil and gas. Despite India bidding out acreages to private and other companies since the 1990s, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India Ltd (OIL) hold a "sizeable number of acreage for years," he said.
Police sources said the state forces exchanged fire for about 40 minutes.
In December 2019, the India arm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu surprised many with its ultra-competitive bid to become the transaction advisor for the country's largest strategic divestment in Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL). The multinational major quoted just Rs 1; the second-highest bidder, SBI Caps, reportedly quoted Rs 15-17 crore. For Deloitte, the motivation was to bag a prestigious deal adding a national energy company to its portfolio. No doubt, it expected BPCL to go to a marquee buyer in quick time.
'At the first board meeting I chaired, I sensed that corporate governance is an issue in this company.' 'I started taking steps that may have aggrieved a few.' 'This has now become a mission I intend to accomplish before I step down.'
The CRPF, the country's largest paramilitary force, has been providing security to about 60 dignitaries and high-profile persons, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Chief Justice of India SA Bobde, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and her children Rahul and Priyanka.
Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad on Wednesday hinted at a thaw between his party and the Congress, saying had a telephonic talk with Sonia Gandhi whom he asked to hold a meeting of 'like-minded' parties which could join hands to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Mizoram accused Assam of human rights violations, a charge denied by Guwahati which said on Monday that encroachment of its land was the crux of the border dispute between the two Northeastern states.
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With new private banks in the play, the going could become more difficult for the old-school state-run banks, already losing business and market position, forcing them to think hard towards consolidating and forming larger entities to garner big-ticket deals.
Indian Armed forces will leave no stone unturned to safeguard the country's frontiers, he insisted.
'Sometimes we use political pressure and sometimes political acumen to get what we want.'
DBS Bank India on Monday said customers of Lakshmi Vilas Bank, which has now been merged with it, can continue to access all banking services, and interest rates on savings and fixed deposits are unchanged as of now. Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) has now been amalgamated with DBS Bank India Ltd (DBIL), the wholly-owned subsidiary of DBS Group Holdings Ltd, DBS Bank India said in a statement.
Merely bringing down the government stake below 51% may not find any taker for the PSBs. The government must bring down its holding to at least 26%, recommends Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Russia and China have a broad consensus today on almost all core issues related to global strategic stability, which is unprecedented in modern history, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
"Water has gone above the head. Now we mean business. You (Centre) will arrange everything now," the court said.
Tata Sons has emerged as the top bidder for the takeover of debt-laden State-run airline Air India but the bid is yet to be approved by a group of ministers headed by Home Minister Amit Shah, sources said.
The Congress chief said if his party is elected to power, its government would spend 6 per cent of the GDP on education.
The US on Friday issued orders to ban popular Chinese social media apps TikTok and WeChat from Sunday to safeguard national security, weeks after India banned them, saying they were prejudicial to sovereignty, integrity and security of the country.
The Supreme Court Tuesday "tentatively" indicated that it is inclined to set aside a part of the high court order quashing the chargesheet against an accused, allegedly involved in the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh, for the purported offences under the provisions of the Karnataka Control of Organised Crimes Act (KCOCA).
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was questioned for over 10 hours by the Enforcement Directorate in a money-laundering probe linked to the National Herald newspaper and was called to depose again on Tuesday, as his party protested across the country, alleging that the Centre was targeting the Opposition by misusing agencies.
"Financial bids for Air India disinvestment received by Transaction Adviser. Process now moves to concluding stage," DIPAM Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey tweeted.
Serum Institute of India CEO Aadar Poonawalla has said that the production of Covid-19 vaccine Covishield is in full swing in Pune and he will review the operations once he is back in the country in a few days. Poonawalla is currently in the UK to meet his family members.
The Assam police has summoned Mizoram's lone Rajya Sabha MP K Vanlalvena on August 1 for questioning over his alleged "threatening statement" over Monday's violence along the interstate border, and pasted a notice at his Delhi residence.
The maximum 80 companies, as per an official order, will be drawn from the Central Reserve Police Force followed by 70 from the Sashastra Seema Bal, 55 from the Border Security Force, 50 from the Central Industrial Security Force, 30 from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police force and 15 from the RPF.
An elusive figure, Hidma is a top leader of the outlawed Naxal outfit CPI (Maoist) and has been on the radar of security agencies for many years.
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